Marussia’s Jules Bianchi has made no secret of his anticipation for his first night race as a Formula One driver in Singapore next weekend.

“The Singapore Grand Prix will be a totally new experience for me as my first night race,” Bianchi said. “In my debut season where everything is new, it is certainly one of the highlights of the calendar for me and I can’t wait for next weekend.”

Bianchi debuted at the Australian Grand Prix for Marussia, and he has made quite an impression from the back of the grid by trouncing teammate Max Chilton and posing the stiffest challenge to Caterham’s Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde. Thanks to Bianchi, the team currently lies tenth in the constructors’ championship by virtue of his thirteenth-place finish at the Malaysian Grand Prix, and the Frenchman is keen on keeping Marussia ahead come the end of the season.

“The next part of the season is going to be quite a challenge for everyone, but the team is pushing so hard to maintain tenth place in the championship and I really hope that is going to be possible for us.”

The likes of Max Chilton, Giedo van der Garde and Esteban Gutierrez have all raced at Singapore in GP2, making the novelty of a night race nothing new for them. Thanks to the nature of the circuit, the number of retirements is usually quite high at Marina Bay, giving Marussia and Caterham a chance to finish strongly and perhaps cause an upset.